Interview with Laura Blackmore, Communications Volunteer

One of my final conclusions of my volunteer experience would be that I want to be less stressed when I'm coming back to Australia and just enjoy life more, and do what I love, and get to know different people.

1) What things of the argentinian lifestyle did you like and which ones did you not understand?

I liked that it is totally acceptable to have cake and coffee whenever wherever of the day but something that I don't understand is how people go to bed so late and have dinner so late for example people here have dinner at 10 pm or 11pm and dont get to bed until 2am and then they wake up at 6am or 7am. I don't understand when they sleep.

2) What would you have liked to know from the beginning of your stay that you found out later?

I think for me the hardest thing was the Argentinian accent because I have learned Spanish in Mexico and Spain so when I first came her listening to my taxi driver speaking I just couldnt understand anything he was saying because they pronounced a lot of words differently and also the Porteños their accent is a mixture of Spanish and Italian so I guess I wish I got more used to the accent but after a couple of weeks here I think I am doing pretty good.

3) What did you learn about yourself from this experience?

So I think I have learned that I can be adaptable because before I left to come to Argentina, my life in Australia was really routined everything was in a box but then coming here Argentinians have their own time. Everything is a lot more relaxed and flexible and I had to adapt to that otherwise I would have been left behind so for instance if you say you gonna be here at 5pm dont show up at 5pm because Argentinians wont be there until 7.

4) What was your most touching experience?

My most touching experience was when we went to one of the summer camps which is a project through voluntario global and it was the end of year celebration so the kids all made those handcrafted signs and games for everyone to play. And then when their parents came to the facilities and their grandparents and we were just in the backyard with two other volunteers playing with them in the games and we were just about to love life. It was just really beautiful being with other people and sharing their culture

5) Did your stay reach your expectations? Why?

My stay in Buenos Aires did reach my expectation because I think this question can only be interpreted by what you want as a person... so I actually talked to my Spanish teacher about what we are going to do on the weekend and she recommended me a lot of sites but then also being part of voluntario global you are also putting what you want out from it if you wanna do filming, photography or writing.. it is flexible and you can kind of vision what you want to put into the project. It did reach my expectations maybe0 in a different way that I didnt expect either because you have to be open and just going there with an open mind.

6) Do you have any recommendations about Argentina?

I think my biggest recommendation just to come and embrace the city. Don't try and come here with your own experiences from whereever other countries and your country where you come from because for me I mean I have done a little bit of travelling but always if you go somewhere new whereever you go it will be different and you should let go of everything else. I also say say yes to everything and you never know where that can take you.

7) What values do you take from this volunteer experience and want to take back to my country?

One of my finals conclusions of my volunteer experience would be that I want to be less stressed when I coming back to Australia and just enjoy life more and do what I love and yeah get to know different people and get out of your comfort zone because I think I was a bit stuck before coming to Argentina and then coming here I have become a lot more open.